MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Interview

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MATTHEWS:  And -- or he says -- like he used to do it with Obama and his birth records from Hawaii.  Oh, I`m checking on those. 
 
It`s nonsense.  It`s B.S.  Nobody believes they`re doing anything, but just delay.  Why are they doing this?
 
REP. TULSI GABBARD (D), HAWAII:  The biggest B.S. that I see in this whole thing is the statement that you hear from President Trump.  You hear it from Mike Pompeo. 
 
You hear it from different people within this administration, that Saudi Arabia is a good ally, or is our best ally or our best friend within the region. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Right. 
 
GABBARD:  The issue here with the murdering of this journalist in Turkey shines a light on the larger question that I think needs to be asked and answered here in Washington, which is, show the evidence of how Saudi Arabia is our ally, because I can tell you, there is a long list of reasons pointing to all of the reasons why they are not our allies, why they are acting directly in ways that are counterproductive to the interests of the American people and to our own national security interests. 
 
MATTHEWS:  So, why is the president`s son-in-law in charge of all this?  Because he thinks he`s got a buddy in MBS, the killer over there.  They have sweet-talked to him.  He`s been seduced by them.  He thinks he`s going to get an Israel -- a pro-Israeli deal, not just a deal in the Middle East, but a deal that Netanyahu is going to like, the hard -- the hardest of the Likudniks, that he`s going to like it. 
 
How can there be such a deal?
     
GABBARD:  Well, when you look at the things that this administration is doing, they are things that are moving us farther and farther away from the possibility of striking a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians. 
 
Again, we have got to look at what`s driving -- what`s driving this.  And if you look at Trump -- and he`s made it very clear -- it`s money and it`s his so-called deal with the Saudis for this $110 billion of weapons that he`s selling to them, without regard for how they`re using those weapons and slaughtering people in Yemen. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Yes. 
 
GABBARD:  There are so many issues here that really…
 
(CROSSTALK)
 
MATTHEWS:  You don`t think we should have to deal with the fact that the Saudi royal family is there to stay, there`s nothing we can do about it?
 
GABBARD:  They -- that`s not the point.  I`m not saying that we have got to get rid of the Saudi state or the government or whatever.  That`s -- that is not my point at all.  I don`t believe that we should be in the regime change business, whether it be in Saudi Arabia, in Iran, or North Korea.
 
MATTHEWS:  Or Syria.
 
GABBARD:  Or Syria or anywhere else. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Let`s take a look this.
 
Meanwhile, according to -- outgoing U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley talked to my colleague Craig Melvin about how she would use President Trump`s unpredictable behavior to her advantage at the U.N.  Let`s watch this strange story. 
 
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
 
CRAIG MELVIN, MSNBC CORRESPONDENT:  Is it true that you use the president`s unpredictable rhetoric to our advantage diplomatically?
 
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS:  If I needed to pick up the phone and say, this is what I`m going to do, are you good with this, or this -- we -- we kind of partnered in that. 
 
And so he would, like, ratchet up the rhetoric, and then I would go back to the ambassadors and say, he`s pretty upset.  I can`t promise you what he`s going to do or not.  But I can tell you, if we do these sanctions, it will keep him from going too far. 
 
(END VIDEO CLIP)
 
MATTHEWS:  This is sort of like the Nixon mad bomber thing.  Make him think
* and she`s saying that`s what she would do to our people negotiating with us.  Oh, be careful.  This guy`s a little -- a little rocky here. 
 
GABBARD:  And yet what she`s doing is -- is further ratcheting up tensions with other nuclear powers in the world, further beating those hawkish neocon war drums. 
 
So, whatever she -- she`s trying to make it sound like she`s the good cop.
 
(CROSSTALK)
 
MATTHEWS:  You sound like me talking here.  I like this.
 
(LAUGHTER)
 
MATTHEWS:  Anyway, let me ask you about your cause, because, right now, Trump ran by saying he was going to get rid of stupid wars and help the troops.
 
GABBARD:  Yes. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Where would you put him on that?  Where is he doing on that?
 
GABBARD:  Moving us in the wrong direction. 
 
Not only have we not ended any of these stupid wars.  We are continuing to have our troops deployed in places like Afghanistan and Syria and other places, all while this administration is laying the groundwork for a regime change war against Iran.
 
What -- to speak of the veterans here at home, I spoke with a veteran recently.  He used to work in the VA and who now works just helping veterans in his community, who said -- and he was a Republican -- and he said, never before has he seen veterans worse off with this VA than he has with this VA.
 
And that`s because veterans are being treated like a number. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Yes. 
 
GABBARD:  And so, in order to report out good statistics, their cases are being closed prematurely.  We`re seeing cases and appointments being deleted completely because they were waiting too long. 
 
And this G.I. Bill issue, where veterans are trying to go to school, they have been promised these benefits, and the VA is saying, well, actually, you know what?  We will pay you in a year-and-a-half.  Meanwhile, they have got to pay their rent, they have got to pay their tuition and take care of their families. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Yes, I know.
 
My dad -- our dad went to school on the G.I. Bill.
 
GABBARD:  Yes, so did I.
 
MATTHEWS:  That`s why we were middle class. 
 
Anyway, 2020, the Baskin-Robbins campaign. 
 
(LAUGHTER)
 
MATTHEWS:  There`s every kind of flavor running. 
 
Somebody from Hawaii was recently elected president, Barack Obama.
 
Yourself, are you running? 
 
GABBARD:  I`m seriously considering it.
 
MATTHEWS:  What would stop you?
 
GABBARD:  I`m -- I`m concerned about the direction of our country. 
 
MATTHEWS:  No, what would stop you from running? 
 
GABBARD:  I don`t know.  I`m thinking through very carefully.
 
MATTHEWS:  It sounds like you`re heading toward it.
 
GABBARD:  I`m thinking through it very carefully.
 
MATTHEWS:  That`s an old Tim Russert question, by the way.  What can stop you?
 
(LAUGHTER)
 
MATTHEWS:  And you have to come up with that answer. 
 
It`s good to have you.  A lot of people are seeing you for the first time.
 
U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard may run for president in a very wide, interesting field.
 
Up next:  President Trump is facing investigations by federal prosecutors right now working with Robert Mueller and New York prosecutors.  He`s also facing a newly emboldened Democratic Party.  Don`t you notice?
 
Look at her yesterday, the speaker, the future speaker. 
 
And his staunchest supporters are mocking his claims he`s already built a wall.  Laura Ingraham says, there`s no wall, Mr. President.  Look.
 
That`s unusual. 
 
You`re watching HARDBALL. 

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